Sam was the son of Jonathan Shelton and his second wife, Mary nee Shaw.
Jonathan was born in Arnold, Nottingham, in 1825, and was the son of Thomas and Ann Shelton. He was baptised at Arnold St Mary on 5 December 1825. Jonathan married Mary Cooper on 21 December 1852 at Calverton St Wilfrid (O/N/D Basford) but was widowed by the time of the 1871 Census when he was living on Spring Street, Hucknall. No children have been traced from the marriage.
Jonathan married secondly Mary Shaw (b. Hucknall) in 1872 (J/A/S Radford) and according to the information he gave on the 1911 Census when he and Mary had been married for 40 years they had had six children of whom only three were still living.
Their children were: twins Mary Ann and Ann who were born in Bestwood/Hucknall on 26 September 1873 (J/A/S Basford), James b. Bestwood 1876, Emily b. Mansfield 1879 (J/A/S Mansfield) and Arthur b. Mansfield 1882 (A/M/J Mansfield); all five children were baptised on 25 March 1883 at Mansfield St John the Evangelist. Their sixth child, Sam, was born in Mansfield on 10 December 1883 (1884 J/F/M Mansfield) and baptised on 26 March 1885 at Mansfield SS Peter and Paul. Their parents were living in Taylor's Yard in 1883 but on Stockwell Gate in 1885.
Jonathan and Mary had moved from Hucknall to Mansfield by 1883 when their first five children were baptised at the parish church; they were then living at 2 Taylor's Yard. The family had moved to Stockwell Gate by the time Sam was baptised in 1885 but had returned to 2 Taylor's Yard by the time of the 1891 Census. Jonathan (60) was an agricultural labourer. All six children were at home on the night of the census: Mary Ann (17) and Ann (17) who both worked in a cotton mill, James (15) a coal miner, Emily (12), Arthur (9) and Samuel (7). Also in the household was a three year old child, Lucy, described as a 'nurse child', a term often used for a 'looked after' child.
Their fifth child, Arthur, probably died in 1895 (J/A/S Mansfield) aged 13.
By 1901 Jonathan and Mary were living at 25 Holden Street, Jonathan (74) was still working. Also in the household were James (24), Emily (21) a lace mender, and Sam (17) who was in work (occupation illegible). Ann and her sister Mary Ann had married in 1894 and 1895 respectively and had left home.
Mary Ann married Jim Wilson in 1895 (J/A/S Mansfield and they had two daughters: Ethel b. 1896 (J/A/S Mansfield) and Edith b. 1897 (J/A/S Mansfield). Mary Ann died in 1908 (O/N/D Mansfield) age 35.
The eldest son, James, died aged 31 in 1907 (J/A/S Mansfield).
Jonathan and Mary had moved to 2 Holden Street, Mansfield, by 1911 and Sam (27), a warehouseman at a cotton hose factory, was the only one of their children still living at home. Also in the household were Mary Ann's two daughters, Ethel and Edith Wilson; Ethel (16) was a cleaner at a cotton factory, and Edith (13) was a sorter at a shoe factory. The youngest daughter, Emily, had married in 1902 and left home
Sam's address was given on the Probate record as 2 Bleakhills, Mansfield.
Jonathan Shelton died in 1911 (J/A/S Mansfield) age 86 and his wife Mary in 1913 (O/N/D Mansfield) age 69.
Of Sam's two surviving siblings:
Ann married Samuel Frost Foster in 1894 (A/M/J Mansfield) and they probably had four children: Edward b. 1895 (J/F/M Mansfield), John William (Willie) birth registered 1897 (J/F/M Mansfield), Arthur b. 1898 (A/M/J Mansfield) and Sarah Ann birth registered 1903 (J/F/M Mansfield). In 1901 Ann and Samuel, a whitesmith, were living at 16 Holden Street with their sons Edward (6) and Arthur (3). They were still at the same address in 1911 and had three children still at home: Edward (16), Arthur (13) and Sarah Ann (8). However, by 1939 they were living at 2 Holden Street, which had been Ann's parents' home in 1911; Samuel (b. 11 May 1872) had now retired from work. Samuel died in 1960 (J/A/S Mansfield) and Ann in 1962 (J/F/M Mansfield).
Emily married Luke Davies in 1902 (J/F/M Mansfield) and they had at least one child, Mary Ellen b. 1902 (O/N/D Mansfield).
